Winter Forest
watercolor painting by Rosa Phoenix
Happy Holidays!
Believe it or not, it's cold and wintry here in Arizona, and there's snow in the mountains!
We painted a wintry forest scene in my watercolor classes.
This is a nice lesson for beginners. We learn about wet-on-wet technique, using masking tape, and color perspective (distant objects are lighter in color and appear blurry, while closer objects are darker in color and have more definition).
Step 1
We start by masking off the bottom part of the painting with masking tape, then applying a pale wash of paint (using lots of water) to the paper in a cool blue lavender color.
This will be our sky.
Step 2
While the wash is still wet, loosely paint in the most distant layer of trees, using a slightly darker lavender paint that is very wet. I use a small round brush, using a quick back-and-forth motion. It doesn't have to be detailed, because the trees are very far away.
We want the trees to blend in with the sky, to get a misty look.
Step 3
While our background tree layer is still wet, we loosely paint in the middle layer of trees in a blue green color. The colors will blend together and that's OK.
Step 4
We let our painting dry, and then we paint in our final layer of trees that are closest to us. We use a dark blue-green color paint, and we use less water this time, so our trees have more definition.
Finally, we remove the masking tape and paint the bottom part of our painting. I painted a wash of icy, light blue color.
My students used their imaginations to create a scene here: one painted snowy hills; another painted a deer, and another painted a river with fish jumping in it!
Remember to stay creative and open to possibilities. It's a wonderful way to live life!
